A Need for a Paradigm Shift in the Spanish Banking Sector? The Evolution from Regional to Multinational Banks in Spain.

Since the approval of Spain¿s 2012 National Budget on March 30, 2012, some doubts and controversies have added up to many fears in the private sector regarding the measures and stimuli that the Spanish government was going to undertake. At the same time, this situation was in some measure aggravated by the financial backlog of many small and medium companies, which are and will continue, in the following years to be completely unable to comply with their financial requirements. In line with Boronat Ombuena¿s (2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2012) requirements in his new approach to finance and private sector liaisons, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent years of the credit sector in Spain as well as its direct and mid-term effects that its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have contributed up to date, and will still produce in the near future. We will take a closer look at the evolution of the banking sector in Spain from 1995 to 2012 through a historically-based methodology, compiling and synthesizing the existing financial and risk market information and analyzing its evolution. We shall observe that in a single year, the total number of savings banks in Spain decreased from 45 to only 15 entities and that the risks the financial system took over these last few years were not equally distributed across the entities, resulting in an advanced foreclosure of the regional savings banks and in a market-share growth for the commercial banking entities. This process has resulted in creating larger entities and, in some cases, a vacuum of regional and local credit entities that in the mid-long term will eventually end up in a representative loss on credit availability. These circumstances call into question the need for a paradigm change and most importantly, new approaches to solve the new challenges that can result in the financial fluidity of the system and the eventual recovery of the economic structure

Occasional Finding Of Neurological Disorders During Children Hearing Loss Evaluation Using The Abr

One of the most important applications of the Brainstem evoked response audiometry (ABR) is in the evaluation of hearing loss in children. Today the ABR is also indicated in the screening of cochleovestibular syndromes to detect retrocochlear lesions, to monitor patients in a coma (brain death), in monitoring the brainstem during skull base surgery, etc. Among the many BERA qualities, is its capacity to evaluate the neurophysiologic integrity of the auditory brainstem pathway. In doing so, sometimes while evaluating hearing function in children we are faced with ABR waves that suggest the presence of retrocochlear lesions (trace asymmetry, increased interpeak intervals), many times confirmed through image studies. These cases are seen as occasional findings of neurologic disorders during children hearing loss evaluation. In this study we report 2 cases of neurologic disorders diagnosed with the use of the ABR to evaluate hearing loss in children. © Revista Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia. All Rights reserved.733424428Jewett, D.L., Romano, M.N., Williston, J.S., Human auditory evoked potentials: Possible brain stem components detected on the scalp (1970) Science, 167 (924), pp. 1517-1518Starr, A., Hamilton, A.E., Correlation between confirmed sites of neurological lesions and abnormalities of far-field auditory brainstem responses (1976) Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol, 41 (6), pp. 595-608Levine, R.A., Gardner, J.C., Fullerton, B.C., Stufflebeam, S.M., Carlisle, E.W., Furst, M., Effects of multiple sclerosis brainstem lesions on sound lateralization and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (1993) Hear Res, 68 (1), pp. 73-88Moller, A.R., Jannetta, P.J., Auditory evoked potentials recorded intracranially from the brain stem in man (1982) Exp Neurol, 78 (1), pp. 144-157Hashimoto, I., Ishiyama, Y., Yoshimoto, T., Nemoto, S., Brain-stem auditory-evoked potentials recorded directly from human brain-stem and thalamus (1981) Brain, 104 (PART 4), pp. 841-859Anson, B., Donaldson, J., (1981) Surgical anatomy of the temporal bone, , 3rd ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders;Sousa LCA, Piza MRT, Costa SS. Poster: Brainstem Evoked Auditory Potential (ABR) in Neurology and Neurosurgery: 99th Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery. New Orleans, USA, Setembro1995Sousa, L.C.A., Piza, M.R.T., Costa, S.S., Diagnosis of Menières Disease: Routine and Extended Tests (2002) Otolaryngol Clin North Am, , JuneMarangos, N., Maier, W., Merz, R., Laszig, R., Brainstem response in cerebellopontine angle tumors (2001) Otol Neurotol, 22 (1), pp. 95-99Haapaniemi, J., Laurikainen, E., Jahansson, R., Rinne, T., Varpula, M., Audiovestibular findings and location of na acoustic neuroma (2000) Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol, 257 (4), pp. 237-241Costa, S.S., Sousa, L.C.A., Cruz, O.L.M., Colli, B.O., Andrade, M.J., Rollin, G.A.F.S., Schwannoma vestibular: Apresentação atípica (1995) J Bras Neurosurg, 6 (2), pp. 41-48Sousa LCA, Piza MRT, Costa SS, Ferez M, Colli BO. Electrophysiologic Monitoring (ABR) of Coma Status,: 99th Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology. Head and Neck Surgery, New Orleans, USA1995Coser, P.L., Menon, A.D., Electrophysiological study of auditory pathways and the vestibular system in tumor pathology of the 8th cranial nerve and of the cerebellopontile angle (1981) Rev Laryngol Otol Rhinol (Bord), 102 (5-6), pp. 239-24

Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era

With its rapid-response capability and multiwavelength complement of instruments, the Swift satellite has transformed our physical understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Providing high-quality observations of hundreds of bursts, and facilitating a wide range of follow-up observations within seconds of each event, Swift has revealed an unforeseen richness in observed burst properties, shed light on the nature of short-duration bursts, and helped realize the promise of GRBs as probes of the processes and environments of star formation out to the earliest cosmic epochs. These advances have opened new perspectives on the nature and properties of burst central engines, interactions with the burst environment from microparsec to gigaparsec scales, and the possibilities for non-photonic signatures. Our understanding of these extreme cosmic sources has thus advanced substantially; yet more than 40 years after their discovery, GRBs continue to present major challenges on both observational and theoretical fronts.Comment: 67 pages, 16 figures; ARAA, 2009; http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/toc/astro/47/

Bottom Effect in Atomic Force Microscopy Nanomechanics

In this work, the influence of the rigid substrate on the determination of the sample Young''s modulus, the so-called bottom-effect artifact, is demonstrated by an atomic force microscopy force-spectroscopy experiment. The nanomechanical properties of a one-component supported lipid membrane (SLM) exhibiting areas of two different thicknesses are studied: While a standard contact mechanics model (Sneddon) provides two different elastic moduli for these two morphologies, it is shown that Garcia''s bottom-effect artifact correction yields a unique value, as expected for an intrinsic material property. Remarkably, it is demonstrated that the ratio between the contact radius (and not only the indentation) and the sample thickness is the key parameter addressing the relevance of the bottom-effect artifact. The experimental results are validated by finite element method simulations providing a solid support to Garcia''s theory. The amphiphilic nature of the investigated material is representative of several kinds of lipids, suggesting that the results have far reaching implications for determining the correct Young''s modulus of SLMs. The generality of Garcia''s bottom-effect artifact correction allows its application to every kind of supported soft film

Electrical transport studies of quench condensed Bi films at the initial stage of film growth: Structural transition and the possible formation of electron droplets

The electrical transport properties of amorphous Bi films prepared by sequential quench deposition have been studied in situ. A superconductor-insulator (S-I) transition was observed as the film was made increasingly thicker, consistent with previous studies. Unexpected behavior was found at the initial stage of film growth, a regime not explored in detail prior to the present work. As the temperature was lowered, a positive temperature coefficient of resistance (dR/dT > 0) emerged, with the resistance reaching a minimum before the dR/dT became negative again. This behavior was accompanied by a non-linear and asymmetric I-V characteristic. As the film became thicker, conventional variable-range hopping (VRH) was recovered. We attribute the observed crossover in the electrical transport properties to an amorphous to granular structural transition. The positive dR/dT found in the amorphous phase of Bi formed at the initial stage of film growth was qualitatively explained by the formation of metallic droplets within the electron glass.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Effect of stress level on the high temperature deformation and fracture mechanisms of Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn-0.8 vol. pct TiB²: an 'In Situ' experimental study

The effect of the applied stress on the deformation and crack nucleation and propagation mechanisms of a gamma-TiAl intermetallic alloy (Ti-45Al-2Nb-2Mn (at. pct)-0.8 vol. pct TiB2) was examined by means of in situ tensile (constant strain rate) and tensile-creep (constant load) experiments performed at 973 K (700 °C) using a scanning electron microscope. Colony boundary cracking developed during the secondary stage in creep tests at 300 and 400 MPa and during the tertiary stage of the creep tests performed at higher stresses. Colony boundary cracking was also observed in the constant strain rate tensile test. Interlamellar ledges were only found during the tensile-creep tests at high stresses (sigma > 400 MPa) and during the constant strain rate tensile test. Quantitative measurements of the nature of the crack propagation path along secondary cracks and along the primary crack indicated that colony boundaries were preferential sites for crack propagation under all the conditions investigated. The frequency of interlamellar cracking increased with stress, but this fracture mechanism was always of secondary importance. Translamellar cracking was only observed along the primary crack.Funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through projects (MAT2009-14547-C02-01 and MAT2009-14547-C02-02) is acknowledged. The Madrid Regional Government partially supported this project through the ESTRUMAT grant (P2009/MAT-1585). CJB acknowledges the support from the Spanish Ministry of Education for his sabbatical stay in Madrid (SAB2009-0045).Publicad

Chromosomics: Bridging the Gap between Genomes and Chromosomes

The recent advances in DNA sequencing technology are enabling a rapid increase in the number of genomes being sequenced. However, many fundamental questions in genome biology remain unanswered, because sequence data alone is unable to provide insight into how the genome is organised into chromosomes, the position and interaction of those chromosomes in the cell, and how chromosomes and their interactions with each other change in response to environmental stimuli or over time. The intimate relationship between DNA sequence and chromosome structure and function highlights the need to integrate genomic and cytogenetic data to more comprehensively understand the role genome architecture plays in genome plasticity. We propose adoption of the term ‘chromosomics’ as an approach encompassing genome sequencing, cytogenetics and cell biology, and present examples of where chromosomics has already led to novel discoveries, such as the sex-determining gene in eutherian mammals. More importantly, we look to the future and the questions that could be answered as we enter into the chromosomics revolution, such as the role of chromosome rearrangements in speciation and the role more rapidly evolving regions of the genome, like centromeres, play in genome plasticity. However, for chromosomics to reach its full potential, we need to address several challenges, particularly the training of a new generation of cytogeneticists, and the commitment to a closer union among the research areas of genomics, cytogenetics, cell biology and bioinformatics. Overcoming these challenges will lead to ground-breaking discoveries in understanding genome evolution and functio

Burden and risk factors for Pseudomonas aeruginosa community-acquired pneumonia:a Multinational Point Prevalence Study of Hospitalised Patients

Pseudornonas aeruginosa is a challenging bacterium to treat due to its intrinsic resistance to the antibiotics used most frequently in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Data about the global burden and risk factors associated with P. aeruginosa-CAP are limited. We assessed the multinational burden and specific risk factors associated with P. aeruginosa-CAP. We enrolled 3193 patients in 54 countries with confirmed diagnosis of CAP who underwent microbiological testing at admission. Prevalence was calculated according to the identification of P. aeruginosa. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa-CAP. The prevalence of P. aeruginosa and antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa-CAP was 4.2% and 2.0%, respectively. The rate of P. aeruginosa CAP in patients with prior infection/colonisation due to P. aeruginosa and at least one of the three independently associated chronic lung diseases (i.e. tracheostomy, bronchiectasis and/or very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) was 67%. In contrast, the rate of P. aeruginosa-CAP was 2% in patients without prior P. aeruginosa infection/colonisation and none of the selected chronic lung diseases. The multinational prevalence of P. aeruginosa-CAP is low. The risk factors identified in this study may guide healthcare professionals in deciding empirical antibiotic coverage for CAP patients